


Near a Story's End

by randomscientist



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Episode: s02e01 A Scandal in Belgravia, F/M, The Fireplace Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 23:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11218473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomscientist/pseuds/randomscientist
Summary: "Oh Mr Holmes.. If it was the end of the world, if this was the very last night, would you have dinner with me?"





	Near a Story's End

What happens when a story like this nears its end? A story that’s been a deception, a ruse, spiralling out of hand?

What happens when, in what should’ve been just another game of chess, of your usual power-wielding and ‘I know what he likes’, you appear to have unknowingly invested something you never meant to involve or spend? Your critical moves were a success, the shiny trophy now within grasp, yet there’s the nagging sense that a part of you has been lost somewhere along the line, a part that you desperately wish to but cannot possibly amend – what do you do then?

You could think back to the beginning, that fresh new page featuring your sunny flat in Belgravia and a high-cheekboned detective smug about his disguise, a delusional yet brilliant man eager to impress. You could consider everything that’s happened since then, replay every move on the chessboard, every battle of wits, every carefully aimed pebble tossed into the seemingly still waters of your opponent’s heart and mind.

Count the little victories that curved your lips into a smirk, or the clever moves against you that took effort to _not_ smile at with pride.

(You might even be able to pinpoint moments where something uninvited was rippling through your own chest. Ripples that may or may not have since churned into tumultuous waves - but that’s a different matter, and one upon which you do not dwell.)

No, no. That would be reminiscing. That’s what ordinary people do, and sentimental you are not. You know you have to continue, to keep playing this game that has somehow long turned into anything but. Onwards and forwards, without allowing a single glance back.

There’s something else that you don’t do. Fantasising about the impossible. Desiring the unattainable. You deal with that as part of your business, ever the omniscient spectator, seeing through pathetic minds from far above. The cool, detached catalyst, never an involved participant.

And yet. In a stolen moment near the story’s end, in the warmth and glow from the fireplace, face to face with a pawn that shouldn’t matter, the puppet who’s been hurt and about to be hurt even further but has presently chosen to side with you nonetheless, the lines blur between mask and self.

You touch your hand to his, and feel the pads of his fingers gently pressed to your wrist. His gaze finds yours, and for the first time after months of unyielding antagonism, you see a lost man without his intense, signature scan. His lips are parted, his pupils wide, his unfocused eyes flicking down. Your heart thumps. Your mask slips. For just this one moment, perhaps you can indulge too.

“Oh Mr Holmes.. If it was the end of the world, if this was the very last night, would you have dinner with me?”

He doesn’t hear the sincerity you haven’t voiced, unaware of the icy reality cast over your words. But it wasn’t hypothetical. Not the question itself. Not to you. This _is_ the end. Of a story that’s been going on for too long. Of a world where there is no betrayal, no resentment, only you and him and your games and that _something_ neither of you dares to address. It’s your very last moment together, before the finale of your game, before claiming your prize from the senior Holmes, before you breathe deep and have your mask once again firmly in place, before you–

“Sherlock!”

Ah. _Too late._

**Author's Note:**

> ~~#rBioch is drowning in deadlines and has absolutely zero time for anything so of course she decides that more procrastination is a good idea.~~
> 
> The amazing @ElinorX has since added to this : ]  
> http://elinorx.tumblr.com/post/161901536721/randombiochemist-what-happens-when-a-story-like
> 
> Which is subsequently followed by three more lines..  
> https://randombiochemist.tumblr.com/post/161902511809/elinorx-randombiochemist-what-happens-when-a


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